In 2010, WPT partner Ara Manzanillo, then The Ara Project, initiated a Great Green Macaw reintroduction project in the South Caribbean region of Costa Rica. Their objective was to establish a self-sustaining Great Green Macaw population there and have them eventually join with the remaining populations in northern Costa Rica. Among other efforts, the team works to restore key forests, rescues birds injured or caught in illegal trade and installs nest boxes to increase breeding success.

As of the 2022 breeding season, the team installed 20 artificial nests where 50 Great Green Macaw chicks fledged. The 2023 breeding season saw over 60 chicks fledge from artificial nests, with many other juveniles hatched in natural cavities joining the adult population. Ara Manzanillo is restoring a small but growing reintroduced population in the country’s southwest: one hundred and twenty macaws are now flying free and reproducing in the wild.

Panama Wildlife Conservation (PWCC) has been working to protect Great Green Macaw habitat and protect their numbers. Their science-based work takes them to Cerro Hoya National Park (CHNP) located on the Azuero Peninsula in Panama. This area has been subjected to the most severe habitat degradation in the country through agriculture and drought. Conservation efforts include restoring and protecting habitat in collaboration with local communities, monitoring the wild population and learning about their ecology and threats to their survival. Thus far, the PWCC team has identified nesting sites within the CHNP and a flock of over a dozen individuals on the park’s western edge, with more reported on the eastern side. These sightings bring hope for the area’s population.